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Number of Foreign residents in Japan are at a record low

By on March 30, 2022

The number of foreign residents in Japan by the end of 2021 was 2,760,635 or 4.4% less than the previous year. This has been the sharpest decline seen since Japan started recording data in 1950, the Immigration Services Agency said Tuesday.

The number fell for the second straight year amid tighter border control measures to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The drop was seen in Chinese nationals which made up the largest group at 716,606, followed by Vietnamese at 432,934, and South Koreans, at 409,855.  All the figures were lower than those a year before.

In 2021, the Immigration office issued 18,012 deportation orders to undocumented immigrants in violation of Japan’s immigration control and refugee recognition law, or an increase by 2,137 compared to 2020.

Many of the undocumented foreigners turned themselves in after it became difficult for them to make a living amid the pandemic.

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